A Saskatoon manslaughter trial is trying to piece together the final moments of Beverly Littlecrow’s life.
The 36-year-old died in a Saskatoon hospital on Jan. 24, 2016. Two days earlier, a girl said she witnessed Littlecrow hit her head on a dresser after the woman’s boyfriend punched her five times during a fight.
It happened at a home in Kinley, Sask., where Littlecrow and the man lived together, the girl testified on Tuesday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench. The child’s identity is protected by a publication ban imposed on Tuesday.
Gabriel Joseph Faucher, 45, was arrested nine days after Littlecrow’s death and charged with second-degree murder. However, the Crown reduced the charge to manslaughter.
On Tuesday, the girl reiterated what she told police two years ago: that she saw Littlecrow and Faucher fighting on a Friday and heard more fighting and a bang the next night. She said Faucher woke her up and they called for an ambulance.
Littlecrow was unconscious when paramedics arrived early Sunday morning, an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) testified. He noticed bruising above the woman’s right eye but couldn’t say if the injury was new or old.
Faucher said Littlecrow had fallen on a set of stairs outside their home and hit her head, the EMR told court. He said Faucher told him it happened on Thursday.
The witness also testified that Faucher said Littlecrow had a balance problem due to a prior brain injury. Defence lawyer Andrew Mason asked the girl if Littlecrow’s fall into the dresser could have been an accident.
“I don’t know,” the girl replied.
Under cross-examination, the girl said she heard Faucher tell doctors that Littlecrow fell on Thursday — something she told police during her initial interview as well — and that it was a lie.
Mason asked the girl how she could be sure Littlecrow didn’t fall and hit her head outside if she wasn’t there to see it.
“She never fell outside,” the girl stated, before admitting that she couldn’t be sure. She said she believed she saw a cut above the woman’s eye for the first time when they were at the hospital.